This shot was one of the most famous shots made by Russian photographers during World War 2. It was made in the ruins of Stalingrad city – the place where the most heavy city battles took place. Some historians say that after those battles near Staliningrad the Nazi invasion of Russia broke down.
The monument itself depicts Russian children dancing around a crocodile, looking so unreal with the traces of bullets on the sculptures and the burning ruins on the background.
Later, after the war the monument was rebuilt, even earlier than surrounding buildings.

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Ed Harris? You a German can you speak german, instead of that god awful USA twang?

The best war movie is ‘Stalingrad’, 1993. Nothing more poiant when the German solider collapses and says ‘comrade, shot me’.

‘His name was mullan’

Or the cross of iron, with lee Marvin as Steiner

leave hollywood out of russian/german movies. The americans think they killed Michel Wittman in a Village. (saving private ryan) stole the enigma machine (U- 571) and defeated the japanese (pearl harbour)

I also think Tanya and Vasily should have been together at the end of the war and had babies together.

http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Бармалей_(фонтан)
Name of the monument took place on the allegory of story-poem «Barmalei» Korney Chukovsky.
While Barmalei tortured with fire, the doctor asked Ajbolit gorillas bring a crocodile to swallow Barmaleya – then Barmalei will not be able to do more harm to children. The crocodile did it, but Barmalei was later released after he promised to change. Barmalei became nice and promised that more would be good, will give children sweetie, and that he will love children.

This is the old Soviet tale in verse about the good doctor Aybolita and evil robber of Africa Barmaleya

BTW, Zajcev was not the top-scoring Soviet sniper and it seems it is questionable whether there was a person like (major?) Koenig. Pop-culture hardly ever has anything to do with the history, no matter if it is a Soviet textbook story or its Hollywoodized version.
I remember an interview in a German documentary with supposedly the best sniper of the battle of Stalingrad, known under the nickname “Cikan” (“Zikan” in German transcription, i.e. “Gypsy”). He was a non-Russian with distinctively Mongolian features.
The 1993 movie “Stalingrad” was partially shot in CZ and a friend of mine actually played in the movie – somewhere in the middle of a crowd of Russian POWs 😀

Captain Vasily Grigorevich Zaytsev (or Zaitsev) (Russian: Василий Григорьевич Зайцев, pronounced [vʌˈsʲilʲɪj grʲɪˈgorʲjevʲɪtɕ ˈzajtsɨf]) (March 23, 1915–December 15, 1991) was a Soviet sniper during World War II, notable particularly for his activities between November 10 and December 17, 1942 during the Battle of Stalingrad. He killed 225 soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht and other Axis armies, including 11 enemy snipers.[1] Prior to November 10, he had already killed 32 Axis soldiers with the standard-issue Mosin-Nagant rifle.[1] Between October 1942 and January 1943, Zaytsev had made 242 verified kills, but the real number may be much higher;[2] some argue it might have been as many as 500.[3] His military rank at the time was Junior Lieutenant.

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